PENTANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Verbascum. S'09 



serted into its base. Anth. compressed, erect, more or 

 less kidney-shaped, bursting along the upper edge, im- 

 perfectly 2-celled. Germen superior, roundish. Style 

 thread-shaped, slightly swelling upwards, declining, 

 rather longer than the stamens. Stigma obtuse. Caps. 

 ovate, slightly compressed, or (in Blattaria of Tourne- 

 fort) nearly globular, of 2 cells and 2 valves, opening at 

 the upper part, the valves sometimes splitting half way 

 down ; partition double, from the inflexed parallel mar- 

 gins of the valves, but often incomplete. Recept. ovate 

 or globular, central, connected at each side, in an early 

 state, with the valves. Seeds numerous, minute, angular, 

 dotted, covering the receptacle. 



Herbaceous, usually biennial, more or less woolly, or mealy, 

 mucilaginous, narcotic. Stem mostly solitary. Leaves 

 simple ; either undivided, or pinnatifid ; all radical the 

 first year; subsequently all cauline, alternate, sometimes 

 decurrent, simply or doubly crenate, or toothed, rarely 

 entire. Fl. very numerous, panicled or spiked, aggregate, 

 yellow; rarely white, brownish, or purple. Bracteas ovate, 

 or lanceolate, pointed, of 2 orders, external and internal. 

 Whole genus perhaps Europsean. Species extremely va- 

 riable, subject to cross impregnation. 



The Blattaria of Tournefort is smooth, except fine glandu- 

 lar hairs on the stalks. 



1. V. Thapsus. Great Mullein. High Taper. 



Leaves decurrent, crenate, woolly on both sides. Stem 



simple. Cluster dense. Flowers almost sessile. 

 V. Thapsus. Linn. Sp. PL 252. Willd. v. 1. 1001. FL Br. 249. 



Engl. Bot. v. 8. t. 549. Woodv. Med. Bot. t. 125. Hook. Scot. 78. 



Schrad. Verbose. 17. FL Dan. t.63l. 

 V. n. 581. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 256. 

 V. mas latifolium luteum. Rail Syn. 287. Moris, v. 2. 485. n. 1 . 



sect. 5. t.9.f. 1. 

 V. aut Phlomos vulgaris mas. Lob. Ic. 561./. 

 V. candidum mas. Fucks. Hist. 845. t. 846. 

 V. primum. Matth. Valgr. v. 2.487. /. Dalech. Hist. 1208. f. Ca- 



mer. Epit. 878. f. 

 V. latius. Dod. Pempt. 1 43. /. 

 Thapsus barbatus. Ger. Em. 773. f. 

 /3. Var. 2. Thapso-nigrum. With. 248. 

 On banks, and waste ground, on a chalky or gravelly soil. 

 Biennial. July, August. 

 Root spindle-shaped. Stem erect, .straight, 3 or 1 feet high, very 



